Heritage
by LockBox22
Summary: A party, an investigation and a business contact. A series of encounters. One-shot.


Batman: Heritage

Written By LockBox22

o0o

As always his mind was occupied elsewhere but his body was demanded to be present at these functions. He slipped an easy smile on his face as he handed the empty champagne glass to the waiter beside him. He slipped a hand into his pocket, gently touching the device as he scanned the room.

He had sent the computer scanning in the basement below before heading upstairs to dress for the party that he was throwing. He stopped a sigh. This gathering had happened at the most inconvenient moment. A red dress caught his attention and he watched as the young woman he had been introduced to earlier in the evening walked across the room.

The off-the-shoulder dress flattered her figure, but wasn't over dramatic; some may have even called it modest. The half of a drink she handed back to the waiter told him that she was careful, but the ease of which she walked in those heels said that she was at home in this environment. He wondered if she had been dragged to this event, but quickly dismissed that thought. She was obviously enjoying herself as her quick comment made one of the male guests laugh.

He settled into his stance and took his hand from his pocket as Lauren Kane, the daughter of one of his potential Coast City investors came towards him. "Ms. Kane." He greeted her.

She inclined her dark head, a lock of shoulder length brown hair sliding over her bare shoulder. "Mr. Wayne. How are you?"

"Well." He replied, wondering at her motives. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

A small smile. "Yes, thank you. My father wishes to convey his apologies at not being able attend tomorrow's meeting. He was unexpectedly called away. A trusted colleague will be attending in his place." She told him. "He does however wish you to know that the revisions to the contract are acceptable. I do believe he was even impressed that you were the one to personally suggest the changes."

He responded to her smile with one of his own. "I'll take that as a compliment. Your father is one of the most influential businessmen in the west; when he's impressed you know you're doing something right."

"I believe you are doing more then 'something' right." She returned, waving away the waiter who hovered by them. "You have after all kept Wayne Enterprises up and running. That in of itself is is no mere feat considering your company's reputation."

Bruce smiled at the compliment and looked away from her dark eyes. Lauren had been attending the meetings with her father all week and the entire week he had been having a hard time reading her. She played her cards close to her chest. It intrigued him, but he would be lying if he said the interest was entirely from Bruce Wayne.

Movement caught his attention. Mary making her way towards them, brushing off other men who wished to talk to her. Damn. He thought he was doing a good job at avoiding her. He quickly turned back to Lauren and offered her his hand in true Wayne fashion. "Would you like to dance?" He asked.

He expected a flirty remark or a reaction. But silently, she placed her hand in his and he lead her out to the dance floor; effectively cutting off any advances that Mary could make. Tabloid reporters.

He lead Lauren in a gentle spin and then settled her in his arms. They danced in silence. She was rather a good dancer and let him lead unlike some of the woman he had danced with. But with a millionaire father, he shouldn't be surprised. The song was one of the usuals and he let his muscles do the work while his mind turned to the events of earlier that night.

_It had been a long day negotiating with Marcus Kane, the head of the one of the largest tech company's in Coast City. Kane had been recommended by another investor as a person to get in contact with due to his large overseas assets. Kane was a tough negotiator and Bruce was glad to have the night the prowl around the city. It had been a easy night so far with four muggings. He hadn't even had to do anything. A shadow on the wall was all it took to send the men scrambling away from their target. _

_He continued on towards the city centre. During the last week, the word from the police scanners was that there had been a suspicious amount of alarms in the middle of the night with no intruders in sight. The alarm system on four different large businesses had been checked and double -checked with no problems detected. Something in his gut told him that there was more to it then just a faulty alarm system. _

_The last week he had patrolled around the buildings, but so far he had nothing. Last night he had set up concealed cameras, hoping to catch sight of who or what was causing the alarms to go off. As he landed on the roof of the first building, something made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. He wasn't alone. _

_He scanned the roof and the street below. Everything was quiet, but he knew that something was watching him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a quick blur. He turned around only to find nothing there. He quickly downloaded the data from the motion camera and then removed the device. _

_He moved on the next building and then the third. His time to prowl was up and he headed back home. Once back at the Bat-cave, the downloaded images showed the same blur; all three cameras had captured the same blurry images, all at different times but on the same night. The timestamps were the same as the fake alarms. _

_He had sent the computer cleaning up the images and then went to clean himself for his party. _

Pain in his left foot brought him back to present and he glanced down only to crack his head against Lauren's. Her exclamation was more of surprise then pain. Quickly, Bruce realized that he has missed a step and had managed to step on Lauren's foot at the same time she stepped on his. Silently, he vowed that a distraction would never happen again.

"Are you alright?" He asked holding her elbow in a firm grip.

"I think so." She replied, one hand gently touching the forming lump on her forehead.

"Here." He lead her off the dance floor and towards a quiet corner. The place where her heel had hit his foot throbbed, but it was nothing compared to the other injuries he'd sustained. He sat Lauren down in the chair and took the one next to her.

"How your foot?" He asked.

"Honestly? Better then my head." She replied with a embarrassed smile. "You must have a hard head. You didn't even flinch." She stopped. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to imply..."

"That I'm hardheaded?" He asked with a rueful smile. The device in his pocket vibrated; the computer had finished processing the images. He stood. "There may be some truth to that statement, Ms. Kane." He motioned towards her. "I'll get someone to give you some ice. Excuse me."

He didn't wait for her reply as he quickly made his exit. It was time to get some answers. But he was already forming a theory.

_tbc _


End file.
